Jamaica Baby!

As you all know, I used to be a prodigious traveller. I still like to relive my glory days in various ways, including by receiving a number of weekly emails from travel websites with their latest specials. Back in September or so, I got an email advertising great prices at all-inclusive resorts over Thanksgiving. Kirk and I spent our honeymoon at an all-inclusive resort in the Dominican Republic and we loved it. We've talked off and on since then about going back to an all-inclusive and Jamaica has always been at the top of our list. When I saw that we could get round-trip plane tickets and 5 nights at an all-inclusive hotel for about $1200, we booked right away. Initially, we planned to take Sam with us and went so far as to get her a passport. But then my parents and sister volunteered to watch her. We gladly accepted and our plans took shape.

After leaving Sam with my sister at the airport in Miami (which was way more difficult than either of us imagined - thanks for flying down to get her and being such a good sport Christy!), we flew to Montego Bay. Our resort, the Holiday Inn Sunspree, was only about 10 minutes from the airport. The resort was a little small and not the nicest place we've ever stayed but, for the price, we couldn't complain. Here's some pictures from the resort:

This playground was right outside of our room and made us miss Sam everytime we walked past. We loved having a few days away and are glad she got to spend quality time with the extended family but we missed her so much!

Each morning we would get up and, after breakfast, go our separate ways for a few hours. Kirk went to the gym and got a solid workout for the first time in months and I headed to the pool or some other lounge chair to spend quality time with one of the three books that I read during our trip (total beach trash - it was fabulous!) Then we would meet for lunch and spend the afternoon together.

The first afternoon, we went snorkeling straight off the beach at our resort. We weren't impressed with the sights close into the resort so we just kept swimming out further and further. We had to cross over what seemed to be a dead reef which was super shallow and painful if you were unlucky enough to rub against it. But once we struggled past this area, the bottom dropped away and revealed the most amazing coral reefs. There was tons of different kinds of coral and oodles of tropical fish. We were totally caught off guard - we were not expecting that at all and it was absolutely amazing. We spent about an hour just floating around above the reefs. Afterwards, we both just kept saying over and over how awesome it was. I think we were both in shock. To get a little perspective, the reef was out near where this boat was parked. We couldn't believe that we could swim to it from our ghetto resort.

Our second full day in Jamaica, we decided to get out of the resort and see the town. We took a "shopping tour" which we basically ditched and instead walked around Montego Bay. It was Saturday so there was an outdoor market and the streets were filled with locals. Two local Jamaicans were nice enough to show us around the city. I'm sure they motivated purely by the desire to show off their beautiful city... But we gave them a few bucks for their troubles. Here's some pictures around Montego Bay:

Here's a few pictures of me and Kirk doing what we did most of the visit, drinking fruity frozen drinks. Our favorite was the Miami Vice (combo of frozen strawberry daquari and pina colada - delicious!):

After a few...

After a great 4 days in Jamaica, I'll leave you with this sunset. Till next time Jamaica, we loved you...

Manipulation

Sam quickly mastered the manipulative cry. She's got crocodile tears down. Here's an example - it's not a great example but it shows a bit of her skills:

New Favorite Chore

Sam likes to help Kirk with all kinds of chores. The latest favorite is sweeping the floor.

Trip to Atlanta

This weekend we took a trip to Atlanta to spend some time with Grandpa Hughes in the hospital. He was in a motorcycle accident in September and has been laid-up since then. He's rapidly improving at a facility in Atlanta and Sam can finally visit so we headed to Atlanta to lift his spirits. We bought Grandma Hughes a ticket down to Atlanta for her birthday so we could all spend a weekend together at Christy's house. While Kirk and I were at the hospital, Grandma and Christy took Sam to the park and took these adorable pictures.

Back at Christy's house, they decided to have a disco dance party. I'm sure she'll love me for posting these pictures but here's Grandma having fun with Sam.

Sam's First Graduation

For the last 6 weeks, we've been taking Sam to a Baby Sign Language class. It finished up the other night and they had graduation. Here's a picture of Sam with Beebo the Baby Signs Bear.

Sam is really picking up on the sign language too. She knows probably 10-15 signs and uses them to communicate with us. It's so fun to finally get some insight into what's going on in that brain of hers! And to know that she understands us (though now we also know that she chooses to ignore us quite often - already).

Halloween

The afternoon of Halloween we took Sam to a kid's party at the Space Gallery - a gallery in downtown that they open to community events. There was a DJ, a craft area, lots of balloons to play with, and just fun to be had. We danced with Sam and had a great time! As you can see, Sam was a duck for Halloween.

Tonight, we stayed home and passed out candy on our front porch. Sam found the boxes of Nerds and spent most of the night trying to get the boxes open and the Nerds into her mouth. We let her have them because she can't pick them up well enough to get many into her mouth (and it occupied her for a long time trying).

After the Nerds lost their appeal, we brought Sam's push toy out to the sidewalk. She spent about 45 minutes pushing it back and forth, up and down the sidewalk. It was the best thing ever!

Rosco even wore his hot dog costume for about five minutes. Doesn't he look thrilled?

After the ponytail

Well, that didn't last long. Sam no longer lets us fix her hair. Or when we try, then she immediately starts pulling it out. Here's the result...

Cute Pre-Halloween Outfit / More Walking

Love these cute Halloween pajamas that we got from Grandma Hughes!

And I was finally able to get a little better video of Sam taking a few steps. She'll still only take 2-3 steps and then lunge towards either me or Kirk but she's getting more brave!

Little Cindy Loo-Hoo

Kirk's attempt at a ponytail - we call it the Little Cindy Loo-Hoo!

New Stroller

Sam is really good at using her push toy these days so we got her something a little more challenging. We bought her a doll stroller (and a doll - yes, she already has a doll). She can't push it yet but she loved riding around in it. We may have created a monster...

Cutest Ponytail Yet

Cutest hairstyle I've been able to pull off yet!

First Timid Steps

Sam will now take a few steps on her own! She will waddle once or twice and then lunge for either me or Kirk. But they're steps when she's not touching anything! Since it has to involve both me and Kirk, it's tough to get a video but we gave it a shot.

Kate Gosslin Hair

This is what Sam's hair looks like every morning. We call it her Kate Gosslin look. She could kill it at Halloween this year.

First Real Ponytail!

Here's my first attempt to put Sam's hair in a ponytail. She wasn't such a fun but she left it for a minute!

Helping Dad Bottle Beer

Kirk was bottling beer today and Sam decided to help out.

First Half-Ponytail

Seems like Sam's hair is growing like a weed these days. It's really starting to fall in her face but we're trying to avoid cutting bangs. This is our latest attempt to keep it out of her face:

Sam's New Hideout

Kirk read something about kids Sam's age developing a sense of independence and wanting some privacy. So he got online (Ebay of course) and bought Sam this tent.




Then he set up her own little DVD player and set it up inside the tent so she can watch her Yo Gabba Gabba DVD (the only show she watches). Lots of time if you look on her, she won't even be watching the DVD, she'll have it in the background but she'll be sitting there reading her book. Like mother, like daughter!

The Park

Kirk has been taking Sam to the park a few block from our house nearly every day. The weather is getting a little colder so we've started accumulating new gear. The first purchase was a new windshield for the stroller:




The next purchase was a fleece outfit that we call "The Blanket." Though it's supposed to a size 18 months, it is ginormous on Sam so she's can't really get around in it. But she looks so cozy and it keeps her nice and warm. Here's a picture of Sam in The Blanket holding Rosco's ball throwing thing.

Just to make our midwestern readers jealous, I've included a few pics showing the incredible views from our park. This is Casco Bay and the land you see is some of the islands that follow the coast of Maine. The one with the houses on it is Peaks Island (which is the most inhabited island near Portland but you have to take a ferry to and from). We have taken the ferry out to Peaks and had dinner out there. But next summer we plan on exploring more of the islands via the ferry system.

Here is a picture of Sam on the swings in the playground area of the park. Not bad views eh?